


It's not you, it's me (also it's you)

by lasersheith



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Humor, M/M, Matt is not, Miscommunication, Mutual Pining, Prekerberos, keith is a good friend, shiro longs for death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-25 21:43:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14387724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasersheith/pseuds/lasersheith
Summary: Keith catches Shiro doodling hearts in his notebook. When asked who the hearts are for, he blurts out Matt's name so he won't have to confess his feelings for Keith. Now Keith has made it his mission to help Shiro woo Matt at all costs. Matt is very unhelpful.





	1. Chapter 1

Shiro spent a lot of his time in the library. Normally his studies captivated his attention completely; he often found himself getting lost in solving the complex equations, reading about the history of space exploration, or delving deep into the intricacies of the differences between actual flight and simulation. That day, though, he had something different on his mind. Or rather, someone.

It had been a long time since Shiro had met someone who could hold his attention so completely. Someone who could drag him out of his books or the cockpit of the training simulator. Or more often than not, joined in on those endeavors, his passion rivaling even Shiro's, which was no small feat.

Yes, Shiro had it bad, alright. His orbital mechanics notebook was open on the table in front of him but only had a few things hastily scrawled down as he hit rewind on the lecture for the dozenth time that morning. The margins were filled with little lopsided hearts that he kept drawing in his distraction.

He closed his eyes and took a deep, slow breath. He just had to finish studying this chapter and then he could go find Keith. It wasn't that long. He just had to hold it together for another hour, at most.

He opened his eyes again and almost screamed in the quiet library. He clapped his hands over his mouth as his chair leaned dangerously far back on its hind legs. “Keith!” He hissed out in a loud whisper. “When did you get here?” He asked in a much calmer tone as the adrenaline spike faded.

Keith's mouth lifted up on one corner in the tiny smile Shiro couldn't get out of his head lately. “Just a second ago. Figured you'd be here.” He glanced down at Shiro's notebook with a raised eyebrow. Shiro tried to slam his hand over the margins where his secret shame had been dreamily doodled, but the damage was already done. Keith's smile widened as he took in Shiro’s bright red face.

“You uh, really like orbital mechanics then, huh?” He teased gently. Shiro wished the ceiling would open up with a bright light and he'd find himself gently floating up into the sky, screaming through space at lightspeed, and 8 minutes later finally get the fiery release of death that he sought. But the ceiling didn't open up, and if he wanted to fling himself into the sun he'd have to do it the old fashioned way. He also knew the launch pads were very high security and his only other hope of escaping this conversation without Keith finding out about his crush was to do something he was very, very bad at: lie.

He cleared his throat and tried to will his burning face into cooling. “Yeah, it's uh. It's really fascinating.” His voice cracked twice as he spoke. Keith's grin widened even more.

He leaned his head in and whispered conspiratorially. “Yeah I bet. What's her name?”

Shiro's face burned even brighter. “It's uh…” He thought for a moment. This lie was already quickly becoming unsustainable. He remembered Matt telling him that the key to a good lie was to put as much truth as possible into it, and not too many details. “Well _his_ name…” Keith's eyes widened with the correction as Shiro looked around the library, pretending to make sure no one was listening but actually trying to see if there were any viable candidates in view.

A random freshman from cargo class was watching a video of someone playing a video game instead of studying, he was definitely out. Another cadet from fighter class was asleep against the wall with his book covering his face, which was kind of cute, but he wasn't at all Shiro's type. Keith looked at him impatiently. Shiro swallowed hard. “It's Matt.” He finally said, way too loudly. The librarian gave him a harsh glare, and the kid that was sleeping woke up and dropped his book on the ground.

Keith's face went on quite a journey in the span of only a few seconds. From confusion, to surprise, to something that might have been anger, finally settling on understanding. “Wow that must be rough since he's your roommate.” Keith said sympathetically, placing a comforting hand Shiro's shoulder. Shiro looked up at the ceiling, just in case his wish was being granted a little late.

It wasn't. He looked back at Keith and tried to smile. “Yeah, it's… it's not easy.” He lowered his face and tried to keep his breathing steady.

“Hey, let's get out of here.” Keith coaxed, already collecting Shiro's things into a pile on the table. Shiro could never say no to Keith, so he followed. They left the library and headed to Shiro's dorm room.

..

Matthew Holt would generally describe himself as a pleasant person. _Generally._ That day, however, he and pleasant were not even on speaking terms. He took another small sip of his too-many-eth cup of coffee and did a quick calculation on the back of his napkin. Satisfied that he was still several mg/kg away from the LD50 of caffeine, he took a larger sip.

He had one more graph to finish on the report from hell that his father had made him redo 4 times already. The deep space probe data was fascinating but you can only stare at the same huge tables of numbers for so long before they start mocking you. He looked at his coffee cup suspiciously and decided to switch to water.

Some minutes later, he hit send and packed up all of his things. No one else was in the lab on a Saturday afternoon, so he made the rounds checking that everything that needed to be off was off and vice versa. By the time he got to his dorm room he felt like he'd run a marathon. He keyed in the access code wrong three times before finally getting it right. He regretted it instantly.

The shared living space was covered in candles and plastic flower petals. “First of all, this is a fire hazard.” He said, glaring at the one oddly hopeful and one extremely uncomfortable face looking back at him. “Secondly, I'm going to bed. If either of you wake me up with,” he looked around the room in disgust, “ _whatever this is,_ ” he huffed, “I _will_ destroy you.” He walked past them and dumped his backpack on the floor with a thud before slamming his bedroom door.

Keith put his hand on Shiro's shoulder again. “Hey, don't worry. He just isn't a candles and flowers kinda guy. We'll figure this out.” Shiro tried to smile back at him, but his face wasn't really cooperating. 

“Thanks, Keith. You're…” he sighed and a genuine smile finally fell into place. “You're a really good friend.” They stood and stared at each other in the candlelight, softly smiling and still connected by the warm hand on Shiro's shoulder.

Keith's face lit up as he walked away to turn the lightswitch on. “Does Matt like chocolate?” Just like that, the moment was over. Shiro nodded and blinked harshly in the suddenly brighter light.

“Uh… yeah, I think so.” He muttered out.

Keith grabbed his hand and walked them to the door. “Great! There's this place in town, if we're quick we can make it back before Matt wakes up!” Shiro followed helplessly and tried not to imagine what it would be like to lace his large fingers around Keith's smaller ones.

..

Matt stumbled out of bed at 11pm, throat drier than the desert outside his window. He made his way to the kitchen and downed a glass in a few gulps before filling up another, this time drinking more slowly. He was mulling over the pros and cons of waking Shiro up with the microwave vs sneaking into the commissary after hours when he saw the table.

“Takashi! Get in here please!” He shouted in his best Dad Voice. Shiro stumbled in wearing his standard issue Garrison gym shirt and boxers, rubbing his eyes.

He grumbled as he sat down at the table. “Busting out the full name. I must be in trouble.” He leaned his head on his elbow and frowned as he heard something crunch. “Oohhh…” His eyes snapped to full attention.

Matt sipped his water carefully. “Are you threatening me, Shiro? I feel threatened.” Shiro stammered and held his face in his hands. There on the table, was a large heart shape (minus a corner of crunched chocolate bits where Shiro’s elbow had been). In the center was a post it note with “Matt <3” scrawled neatly in the center. “Are these poisoned? Because I have a test on Monday and Hendricks won’t let me make it up, even for food poisoning.” He placed his glass on the table and crossed his arms.

Shiro’s head snapped up. “No they’re not poisoned! God, I’m not a psycho.” Matt hummed in thought.

“Really? Because you could have fooled me.” He waved his hands over the table. “First the lighting our dorm room on fire, and then this. These actions are the motions of a psycho.” Shiro groaned and shook his head.

He took a deep breath and looked up at Matt. “So… Keith maybe thinks… that I have a crush on you.” Matt frowned deeply.

Shiro was fine. Really. He was good looking, smart, occasionally funny. Despite all of that, Matt was very much not interested in anything more than friendship with him. He licked his lips thoughtfully and sat down. “You don’t, do you?” He asked carefully.

Shiro looked back at him and shook his head emphatically. “No! No, of course not!” He protested loudly.

Matt crossed his hands over his chest again. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’m a catch, Takashi! You’d be lucky to have me!” He cried out, feigning offense. Internally he was beyond relieved that their friendship could continue on unmuddied by unrequited romantic feelings.

Shiro sighed and told him what happened at the library. Matt grinned mischievously. “So, next time you see me around Keith, if you could just… I don’t know. Let me down gently? Say you only see me as a friend or something? That would be… that would be perfect. Please.” His eyes were big and wobbly and adorable and the tiny spark of evil that dwelled deep down in Matt’s heart grew ten sizes.

“No.” He replied, coldly, still grinning. Shiro’s face dropped.

He stood up and put his glass in their tiny sink. “What do you want from me, Matt? Please, I’ll do anything.” Shiro said, quickly following him as he made his way back to his bedroom. Shiro grabbed his arm and spun him around before he could go inside and fixed him with another pleading look.

“I haven’t decided yet.” He finally answered, the light from the kitchen glinting off of his glasses and bathing his wide grin in an eerie light. “Good night, Shiro.” He said far, far too happily. Shiro swallowed hard as he turned off the kitchen light and went back to bed.

He stared up at the ceiling with wide eyes until early in the morning, still praying for the mysterious light to come and release him from the pain of this mortal coil.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shironathan is pronounced like Jonathan. It's funny to me when people add the wrong endings to people's names (ie Sam becomes Samothy instead of Samuel) and I feel like Matt would do that.  
> Bonus: Shiro calls him Matthary

Keith woke up early Sunday morning after a fitful night of sleep. Normally he'd go get Shiro to accompany him on his morning run but he was sure that his friend would want some alone time with Matt.  _ Matt, who was undoubtedly by now Shiro's boyfriend _ , Keith lamented as his feet pounded away at the track. 

Matt was a good guy. He was cute and smart and hilarious and he and Shiro had been friends for years. They were perfect for each other. Keith wiped away the water that dribbled down his chin as he paused for a drink at the halfway point in his jog. 

They were perfect together and that had Keith struggling. Jealousy was rearing its ugly head fiercely. He had never been good at making friends, and not for lack of trying. He just always felt so… different. He idly wondered how much of that was a self-fulfilling prophecy for a few laps until his mind inevitably drifted back to Shiro. 

Shiro never made him feel bad for being different. He liked all of Keith's idiosyncrasies and was always patient and kind when Keith didn't get something or needed space or a hug. He cut his run short by a lap and headed back to his room to shower. 

They could still be friends. Of course they  _ would  _ still be friends. Shiro wasn't the kind of person to drop off the face of the planet just because he got a boyfriend. Or at least Keith hoped not. He frowned as he sat down at his desk to study. 

Before he could make any headway, a soft knock at the door pulled his attention. A very tired Shiro with a soft smile stood on the other side of the door. Keith had to tamp down his jealousy again. He didn't want to know what could have kept Shiro up late enough for him to be this exhausted. Or who. 

He gestured Shiro in and shut the door behind him. Shiro rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as Keith asked how it went. “Uhh… Matt… he….” Shiro's face was bright red. Keith tried hard to keep the friendly smile on his face. “He doesn't like chocolate. He didn't get it.” Shiro stammered out after a moment. Keith's heart did a confusing mixture of sinking and lifting at the same time. 

Maybe Matt didn't feel the same way. Although, that didn't make any sense. How could anyone  _ not  _ love Shiro? He put his hand on Shiro's shoulder comfortingly again. “Hey, don't worry.” Shiro looked at him with a fond smile that made Keith's knees weak. “I know just what to do!” 

Shiro's face made a decent approximation of a grin, sort of. “Oh? Uh… great.” His shoulders tensed. Keith squeezed reassuringly.

He felt bad for Shiro. He must have been so nervous about telling Matt about his feelings. Keith could relate. But he was more determined than ever to help Shiro out. He broadened his smile into an excited grin. “You can cook him something!” Shiro's eye went wide. 

“I… I don't know, Keith.” Shiro's voice was laced with anxiety. “I'm not… I'm not very good in the kitchen.” Keith dropped his hand and rubbed his chin in thought. 

He snapped his fingers, drawing Shiro's attention. “We can download an easy recipe book, and figure it out together!” Shiro's shy smile made his chest flutter. 

“Ok. Yeah. How hard can it be?” Shiro answered with a grin of his own. 

..

Very hard, came the realization later that night as Shiro and Keith flailed around the kitchen, trying to put out several small fires. Matt had disabled the smoke detectors in their room almost immediately upon moving in at the beginning of the year, being very familiar with Shiro's skill in the kitchen. How he managed to light macaroni and cheese on fire in the microwave was still baffling. 

“I somehow always knew it would end this way.” Matt groaned as he dumped his backpack on the ground by the door. He grabbed his own towel and started helping his friends smother the flames. “This is why we don't use the stove unsupervised, Shironathan.” 

Shiro groaned meekly and shot an apologetic look Matt's way. “He was just trying to make you dinner!” Keith stepped in, affronted. “Because he's a great guy and he…” Keith looked over and saw Shiro's panicked expression and pleading eyes. “Is just really nice.” Keith's inner fire was quelled, even as the kitchen fire blazed. 

Matt looked like a lightbulb had just gone off in his brain. “Oh, Shiro. That's so sweet of you.” He said, voice dripping with syrup. He stepped into Shiro's personal space and patted his cheek softly. It immediately turned bright red. “Let's put this fire out and go into town for dinner.” The pat turned into a brush of knuckles along his cheekbone. Matt turned to where Keith was watching, mouth gaping open. “Oh, right. Uh Keith. Feel free to come with, if you want.” His sweet tone dropped into an unimpressed deadpan. 

Keith snapped his jaw shut and held up his hands. “Uh no thanks. I don't uh… eat dinner?” He answer hasilty. Matt and Shiro both looked at him with raised eyebrows. Keith coughed into his hand. “It's uh… intermittent fasting. I'm trying to bulk up, so…” Shiro gave him another panicked glance. 

Matt had never cared about bulking or cutting or fitness in general, but he was fairly certain that what Keith had said was absolutely bullshit. He turned back to Shiro and smiled another creepy smile, very reminiscent of the one in the kitchen the previous night. Shiro shuddered. “Well that sounds perfectly reasonable. I guess it's just us then.” He moved past Shiro to grab the small bag of flour they had in a cabinet and began sprinkling it on the flames. They quickly died down. 

Keith looked between Shiro and Matt for a moment. He knew he should be happy that their plan worked, but he was still trying hard to stifle his envy. “Well uh, you guys have fun then.” He mumbled awkwardly as he walked out the door. 

As soon as it shut behind them, Shiro rounded on Matt with hate in his eyes and his fists tightly clenched. Matt responded by laughing so hard he had to hold onto the counter to keep from falling over. “Ok, ok…” He said as he caught his breath. “Tomorrow… tomorrow.” He gasped out. He finally straightened up and cleared his throat. “Tomorrow after class, I'll just happen to bump into you guys at the simulator. Make some dumb speech about how much you like me or whatever and I'll break your heart gently.” Shiro's posture relaxed instantly. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” He said with a harsh puff of air, holding his hands up like he was praying. Matt tutted at him. 

“Oh no, regardless of how entertaining that was to watch, I still have conditions.” Shiro stood up straight and looked at him expectantly, waiting for Matt's terms. 

Matt crossed his arms and jutted out a hip. “Firstly, you're cleaning the entire kitchen tonight.” Shiro nodded in resignation. That one was fair. “Secondly, you're NEVER allowed to use the kitchen again when I'm not here. Which we already agreed to after year 2, I might add.” Shiro's cheeks darkened. That one was also fair. “Third, wait a month or so and then you have to tell Keith how dumb you are and how in love with him you've been for like, ever.” Shiro's blush deepened as Matt stared. 

He looked like he was going to try to argue, but Matt's intensified glare held him in place. “Fine.” He crossed his arms as well. “But you have to help me figure out what to say, I'm hopeless.” He hung his head and sighed, letting his arms dangle in front of him. 

Matt patted his head condescendingly. “You are hopeless. But I'm here for you.” He went back to the door and grabbed his abandoned backpack. “Better get started on that kitchen, it's a wreck.” He said with a smirk as his bedroom door shut with a click. 

..

The next day dragged by more slowly than any one day had any right, at least as far as Shiro was concerned. Keith had immediately asked him how his date with Matt had gone, and he had no idea how to respond. Keith looked so excited and hopeful for him, it was heartbreaking. “Oh you know, I think it went ok. I’m still not really sure if he’s into me or not, though…” Shiro rubbed the back of his neck and stuffed his other hand in his pocket while looking anywhere but at Keith. 

“No way!” Keith interjected. “I saw him last night with my own eyes. Of course he likes you! How could he not?” Shiro’s cheeks bloomed bright red again. He’d thanked Keith for his reassurance and made an excuse about needing to get to class a little early and rushed off. That had been almost 8 hours ago. It felt like much, much longer. 

They’d been in the simulator for a few minutes when Matt just  _ happened _ to walk by. Shiro looked up again, just to make sure his luck finally wasn’t about to turn. When he stayed miserably on the ground and not hurtling towards the sun, he turned to Keith. “Maybe I’ve been going about this all wrong. He’s right there, I should just tell him how I feel.” Keith swallowed hard and nodded. 

He patted Shiro’s arm. “Yeah, that’s probably a good approach. Go for it, buddy.” The word  _ buddy _ hung in the air around him for a quick moment, deflating him. Matt was pretending to type out the world’s longest text message (It was actually just the word “weiner” over and over again in his current thread with Shiro. He deserved it.) while he waited for Shiro to come out into the observation area. 

Shiro finally managed to make his way over to Matt, Keith trailing him by a few steps. “Hey, Matt, can I talk to you for a minute?” His voice was shaky and nervous. Matt held up a finger as he typed a few more words (ok, just the one a few more times) and hit send. Shiro’s pocket vibrated and he gave Matt an annoyed frown. 

Matt smiled up at him sweetly as he pocketed his phone. “Sure, what’s up?” Shiro took a deep breath. 

“Uh… well, you see…” Shiro had never been a good actor. This was not going to work. Matt raised an eyebrow at him and made a circular motion with his hand. “We’ve been friends for a long time now, and I kind of…” A few other cadets had stopped to watch the spectacle and Shiro gritted his teeth. “I have feelings for you. Romantic ones. I want to be your boyfriend.” Hushed whispers exploded around them.

For all the underacting Shiro was doing, Matt was apparently trying to even out their average by overacting. He gasped dramatically and clapped a hand over his mouth. “Shiro! I had no idea! I have no idea what to say!” Shiro gave him a desperate look and tilted his head to the side a little. “Actually, I do.” He dropped the entire pretense. “Sorry buddy, I just see you as a friend. I’m sure there’s a really nice guy out there for you, though.” He started walking away and patted Shiro’s shoulder as he went past. “Good talk.” 

All the whispering died down abruptly as Matt made his way towards the exit. Shiro turned to Keith to see his reaction and was not expecting the red face or gritted teeth or clenched fists. Without a word to Shiro, Keith stalked quickly on his long, long legs towards Matt. “Holt!” He bellowed as he caught up with the smaller man. Matt turned around and was not prepared for Keith coming at him  _ like that.  _ “What gives?” He barked out, inches from Matt’s face. 

Matt went pale and shot a look towards Shiro, who was apparently stunned in place. He held his hands up, palms facing Keith. “Hey don’t give me that, he’s not my type!” Keith grabbed the front of his shirt and Matt swallowed hard. The whispers started again. Someone called a teacher. 

“You’re a real jerk, you know that?” Keith gritted out. Shiro had finally gotten his act together and appeared behind them, comforting hand on Keith’s shoulder. 

He squeezed gently. “Keith, it’s ok. It’s probably for the best.” Keith looked up at him with concern. 

Matt wanted to scream. They were having  _ a moment  _ after Keith had almost knocked his lights out. It was like Keith to have outbursts like that, he was usually a pretty mellow guy, except when Shiro’s honor was at stake, apparently. It solidified Matt’s decision to humiliate Shiro temporarily so that he could save all three of them from this mess indefinitely. “It is for the best.” Matt spoke up. Keith turned and glared at him, daring him to say more. “He never had a crush on  _ me. _ ” The word  _ idiot _ was not stated, only heavily implied. “He just didn’t want to say he had a crush on  _ you. _ ” Again, Matt left out the words  _ fuckin’ duh _ but he felt it was intuitively obvious to the casual observer. 

Shiro’s eyes went wide with panic as Keith looked up him, a mix of fear and hope across his sharp features. “Shiro? Is that true?” He whispered. Shiro felt his face heating up again. 

He smiled at Keith and chuckled under his breath. “Guilty as charged.” He muttered, eyes never leaving Keith’s. Keith laughed with relief and threw his arms around Shiro’s shoulders. Shiro returned the embrace and grinned over Keith’s head at Matt. 

Matt took a dramatic bow. “My work here is done.” He stated as he turned. Unfortunately he turned and ran directly into Commander Iverson. 

Shiro and Keith immediately broke apart and stood at attention. Matt didn’t bother. “I had a concerned cadet mention that there was a fight going on here. I want some answers.” 

Matt fixed him with an unimpressed look. “It was all a misunderstanding, sir. Shiro resolved the issue with grace and poise, as always.” A few snickers littered the small crowd they’d drawn. Iverson glared down at him. 

  
“I don’t like your snappy tone, cadet. Everyone clear out of here! Sim’s closed for the evening!” A round of  _ yes sir _ from all the cadets sounded around the training room and people began to file out. Shiro slipped his hand into Keith’s as they walked. It was even better than he imagined. 


	3. ALTERNATE ENDING

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> retcon chapter 2 out of existence!!! This is an alternate sequence of events that can take place. I realized that I was a fool a few days later so I had to fix my mistake.

Matt woke up early Sunday morning after one of the best nights of sleep he'd ever had in his young life. The universe had given him a gift, and what a glorious gift it was. He knew he could easily go mad with all of the power that had suddenly fallen into his lap, so he had to tread carefully. 

Matt was not a  _ bad _ person by any stretch of the imagination. He always remembered to get his mother flowers for her birthday and mother's day, he voluntarily helped freshmen with their homework whenever he had the spare time, and, most nobly of all, he only occasionally made fun of his best friend for his ridiculous crush. 

No matter how many times or in how many ways Matt tried to tell Shiro that Keith was also disgustingly in love with him, he would never listen. It had been going on for close to a year now. 

No, Matt Holt was not a bad person, but he was a  _ tired  _ person. 

Matt had known Keith for a while, but he was still something of an enigma. He was great, but just… a little odd. For most other people, Matt’s game plan would be to make the actual suitor jealous; respond to the gifts with high praise, make doe eyes, blow a kiss or two if it came to that. That would be enough to spur most guys into a counter-wooing competition that Matt would just gracefully bow out of. 

But not Keith. He didn't seem the jealous type. No, Matt thought, he's the noble “sacrifice my own happiness for the people I love if it'll work out better for them” type. He'd be great in an action movie. 

He knew Keith had a bit of a temper where his friends’ well-being was concerned, and was spinning his wheels as to how he could use that to his advantage. He didn't want to publicly humiliate Shiro, not by any stretch. Most importantly because they were best friends, but also because he wasn't sure Keith wouldn't kick his ass six ways to Sunday defending Shiro's honor. 

It was honestly maddening how obviously they were into each other, to everyone but them at least. All the adoring gazes, the sneaking out afterhours to stargaze, the  _ shoulder touches _ . Just thinking about all the obviously-not-platonic touching they did was enough to make Matt roll his eyes. How could they not see how obvious it was? 

And that's when it hit him. 

Keith's temper would be his downfall (or his saving grace, depending on how you look at it) after all. All Matt had to do was… nothing. It was genius. He'd let Keith continue on with helping Shiro try to confess his feelings in increasingly more obvious ways until Shiro actually confessed that he never had a crush on Matt at all or Keith blew a gasket, during which Matt would use the Socratic method to make him realize what had been going on all along. It was  _ perfect.  _

He walked out of his room and into the kitchen, popping a piece of chocolate into his mouth on the way to pour his cereal. The delicious honey flavored circles paired surprisingly well with the sweet treats and it brought an even bigger spring to Matt's step. Today was going to be a great day. 

..

Today was going to be an awful day, was Shiro's first thought as his alarm pulled him from the far too few hours of sleep he'd gotten the night before. He threw on his running shorts and sneakers before heading to get a quick bite to eat. It was suspicious to him that Matt was already awake, chowing down on cereal and pausing every few spoonfuls to toss a piece of last night's chocolate disaster into his mouth. 

Shiro wrinkled his nose. “You're gonna get a stomach ache.” He said as he grabbed a banana from the counter. 

“Thanks, mom.” Matt muttered in reply through a milky, grainy mouthful. 

Much like nearly every Sunday at 6:55am, there was a soft knock on the door. Shiro answered it quickly, hoping to escape before Keith realized Matt was awake and eating the planted romantic gift. He had no such luck. 

Keith popped his head in the door when Shiro answered. “Oh, good morning, Matt.” He said, an odd fake cheeriness to his voice that neither Shiro nor Matt could recall hearing before. Matt popped another candy into his mouth and waved. “Chocolate for breakfast?” He asked, clearly fishing for an answer to confirm if his plan had worked. 

It was too easy, Matt thought. Keith was playing right into his hands. “Yeah, Shiro knew I was having a rough time with that research yesterday and went out and got them for me. He's such a good friend!” Matt replied, much better at faking the happy tone in his voice than Keith had been. 

Keith looked over at Shiro and smiled. “He sure is.” The dreamy, far-away looks in both of their eyes had Matt resisting the urge to roll his. 

Shiro blushed and looked away first. “Anyway, we should head out to the track and get out of Matt's hair.” He stammered out, putting a hand on Keith's mid back with the intent to steer him out of the room. 

“Have fun guys!” Matt called with a wide smile as they made their exit. 

This might actually be fun, Matt thought as he rinsed his bowl in the tiny sink. 

..

It was not fun. Not even a little bit. 

Shiro came back from his run (without showering, mind you) with coffee from the expensive, high-end shop in town. Keith thought he was being sneaky, but half of his face and torso were hanging out from behind Shiro's bedroom door and his shirt, like the rest of the obviously engineer-designed Garrison Gym Uniform, was bright orange. Matt smiled around the urge to gag at the combination of vanilla hazelnut and Eau de Sweaty Man Musk that filled the entire small living room. 

He brought the cup up to his lips and genuinely sighed in delight. “Wow my favorite, thanks Shiro!” Shiro smiled bashfully and was about to head back into his room when Matt decided to really ham it up. “I don't know what I'd do without such a great buddy.” Shiro cringed at the word. Keith loved to throw around  _ buddy. _

He paused briefly without turning around. “Oh I'm sure you'd manage.” Shiro gritted out, trying to keep the bitter tone out of his voice. 

Matt hummed around another sip of his copy. “Nope. I wouldn't last a day without my  _ best friend.”  _ The emphasis might have been a little much. Matt was a scientist, not an actor. 

Stink and all, Shiro chuckled awkwardly and stalked back into his room. Matt grimaced. He had no doubt that Keith smelled just as bad as Shiro did and that bedroom was  _ tiny. _ They deserved each other, they really did. 

Most of the rest of Sunday was fairly benign. Shiro finally bathed after Keith left shortly before lunch time, and they sat in companionable silence while studying for a few hours before Shiro headed over to Keith's room. He came back a few hours later to grab Matt for dinner. 

Keith was conspicuously absent from the trio's usual trip to the commissary for dinner, and it put Matt on edge. He was sure to be lurking, watching the two of them with his ridiculous, giant eyes. He'd undoubtedly given Shiro another gesture of affection to try, but Matt was Ready. He'd spent a few of his many study breaks using thesaurus.com to find synonyms for  _ friend _ . 

It was a slight surprise to find Keith waiting for them in the small lounge area just outside of the commissary. It was a much larger surprise that he was holding an acoustic guitar. Normally the one in charge of “making it weird,” Matt faltered a little. “Oh, Keith! You'll be joining us for dinner after all, that's so great!” His plastered on smile didn't reach his eyes as he looked at the instrument suspiciously. “I didn't know you played guitar!” 

Keith smiled and nodded towards Shiro. “Yeah, Shiro wanted to sing you a song and well.” He shook the guitar a little for emphasis. 

The words  _ Shiro wanted to sing you a song _ bounced around in his head for a moment before he could parse them. He turned to Shiro and gave him a look that he hoped was equal parts  _ why are you doing this to me  _ and  _ why are you doing this to you.  _ If Shiro noticed, he didn't respond. 

The opening chords to  _ I Will Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab for Cutie  _ started playing and Matt wanted to hate himself for recognizing it immediately. Keith knowing the song didn't strike him as odd at all, he was a sweetheart at his core but he definitely gave off a bit of an edgy emo kid vibe if you didn't know him well. Shiro, though, was a shock. 

His face bright red, he started singing and Matt had to admit that Shiro had a great voice. The one upside to the situation was that they hadn't brought a microphone, so there was only a relatively small gaggle of passersby that stopped to watch the show. 

An agonizing three minutes later, most of which Shiro spent longingly gazing at Keith, the music finally faded, echoing off the walls for a bit while some people clapped and others just walked away. Matt clapped entirely too enthusiastically. “Wow you guys are really good! Have you ever thought about starting a band?” He asked excitedly. Keith frowned. 

“Well we only practiced just that  _ one specific song _ .” Keith replied. 

Matt wasn't good at playing dumb, it was diametrically opposed to his core personality, but when he won this one-sided game of chicken it would be worth it. “Well you should do loads more! That guy uh…” Matt paused and pretended to think for a moment. “James I think? He writes poetry, he could make lyrics for you!” 

Shiro grabbed Matt's arm and started pulling him towards the entrance to the commissary before he and Keith could go another round in the ridiculous conversation. Matt smirked as he let himself be led. He was sure Shiro would break any time now and it hadn't even been a full day. 

“Easy there, pal, I know you need a lot of food to keep up those  _ giant muscles _ but some of us have short legs here!” He said with a teasing laugh, pausing to pat Shiro's chest before walking by. Matt risked a glance behind him briefly and smirked at warring conflict and frustration on Keith's face. 

Throughout dinner, he'd used the words chum, mate, colleague, sidekick, amigo, and bestie (to everyone's deep embarrassment) to refer to Shiro. With every platonic endearment Shiro grew more flustered and Keith grew more… twitchy. Matt loved winning, even if it was a contest no one else knew they were having. 

And the green bean casserole wasn't half bad that night, either. It wasn't half good, being green bean casserole and all, but it was edible and that was all Matt had become accustomed to hoping for from the Garrison's kitchen. As if musing about the nature of said vaguely green mush could cause such a travesty, Keith began clearing his throat a little and Matt was worried he was somehow choking on the gooey vegetable mass. The look on Shiro's face spoke volumes, though. 

At Keith's “subtle” insistence, Shiro also cleared his throat before looking over at Matt. “So, on Tuesday there's a big exhibit opening in the museum in town. It's uh, dinosaurs, I know they're your favorite so…” Matt perked up. He  _ did _ love dinosaurs.

“Oh cool! We should go after class!” Matt said, not even having to act excited.  _ Dinosaurs. _ Shiro sent him a pained smile across the table but Keith's grin was genuine. “You get out of class after us, right, Keith? 4:30?” He asked, poking at his tray again. 

Keith's mouth opened in panic for a moment. “No uh... I have a… a thing. Tuesday's no good for me. You guys go ahead!” He stammered out quickly. 

Matt stuffed another forkful into his mouth. “Well, that does sound super important.” He said around the mush. “But we can't go without our third musketeer, so we'll figure it out when you aren't busy.” It should say a lot to the future readers of Matt's memoirs that he was willing to forgo a trip to see dinosaurs for this plan.  _ Dinosaurs _ . Shiro had better appreciate him. 

Shiro was looking up at the ceiling again, as he'd been doing a lot lately. Keith followed his gaze and, upon seeing nothing, shrugged at Matt and muttered out an agreement to go with them the following weekend. 

The rest of dinner went by without further incident and all three of them decided to call it an early night, each one exhausted for very different reasons. 

..

_ I should have poisoned the chocolates _ Shiro's inner darkness whispered as he was rudely awakened 3 minutes before his alarm was set to go off. Matt stood by his bed with an alarmingly cheerful grin, holding Shiro's blanket out like he was a matador. “Up and at 'em sunshine! Aren't you gonna walk the new love of your life to class?” 

Shiro groaned miserably. “Why are you doing this to me? I thought we were friends?” He croaked. 

Matt continued smiling at him. “I'm actually helping you, you'll see eventually. The memelord works in mysterious ways.” He answered with comical earnestness. 

Shiro wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. He got out of bed instead of doing either. 

Thankfully Matt was merciful enough to have made breakfast while Shiro was in the shower and they ate together in the most uncomfortable silence of their long friendship. “Please just tell me what you're doing.” Shiro begged. 

Matt smiled. “You'll see.” He called in a singsong lilt. Shiro sighed again. 

He did end up walking Matt to class, and somehow carrying Matt's backpack as well for reasons that were increasingly more unclear by the minute. Matt decided to go a different route to their first class for some reason, and Shiro followed along in grumpy resignation. 

When they  _ just so happened  _ to bump into Keith in the hallway, dots began connecting in Shiro's mind. Throughout the entirety of a barely recalled 5 minute long conversation, Matt touched Shiro's arm or back no fewer than 6 times. 

Shiro pulled him aside before they could head the actual direction of their classroom. “Really Matt?” He asked, anger and incredulity fighting for dominance in his steely gaze. 

Matt smirked. “I haven't the faintest idea to what you could be referring, dear friend of mine.” He replied sweetly. Shiro was tempted to stuff him in a locker. 

“I'll just tell him!” He called desperately as Matt walked away.

Matt paused. “When?” Shiro stared up at the ceiling again. 

He finally sighed and looked back at Matt. “I'll tell him… tonight. After dinner.” Matt nodded.

He made a rolling motion with his hand. “Good start, good start.” 

Shiro groaned again. “I'll tell him that I was too embarrassed to tell him who I had an  _ actual  _ thing for, because it's him. Just stop… with all the…” He waved his hand around vaguely in Matt's direction. 

Matt stuck his hand out for Shiro to shake. “As soon as you tell him, I'll stop.” Shiro shook his hand and nodded once. 

..

Keith showed up at their quarters shortly before they usually left for dinner and pulled Shiro into the hallway without a word. Matt pretended that was perfectly normal and ordinary as he continued plotting his data from the afternoon's lab. Several minutes later, Shiro walked back in with a red face and a large bouquet of flowers. 

Matt blinked. Shiro coughed awkwardly. Keith leaned his head in the doorway entirely conspicuously. “Oh wow, thanks, Shiro! Is it our friendiversay or something?” He finally managed to eek out, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck with a chuckle. He heard a very distinctive groan from the hallway before Shiro could answer. “Is something the matter, Keith?” Matt asked, dropping the facade. 

Keith stalked in with his hands bunched tightly into fists. “Of course something's the matter! What's wrong with you!?” He all but shouted. Matt smiled sweetly at him. 

“What do you mean?” The fluttering eyelashes were probably too much. Shiro wouldn't actually let Keith punch him, though… most likely. 

Keith growled under his breath. “You obviously like each other! Why are you being so weird about it?” His face was heating with blush. Shiro gaped openly, still holding the flowers out. 

Matt put a hand under his chin. “Oh really? What makes you say that?” He asked pointedly. 

Keith looked at him like he had 5 heads. “You guys are always doing nice stuff for each other! And hanging out together! And… and you touch each other's arms and stuff!” 

“Do we now?” Matt asked. “Because, to me, at least, it seems like all that's been going on for 3 days, while something very similar has been occurring for much longer with a different set of individuals.” 

Keith's face went on another long journey. From the frustration that he'd started with, it flashed rapidly to confusion, horror, resignation, and then anger. “Of course  _ I _ like Shiro! But he's not interested in  _ me _ !” 

Matt's eyebrows raised in shock. While he was sure Socrates would be proud, he certainly wasn't expecting  _ that _ outcome. 

Shiro dropped the flowers and took a few steps in Keith's direction. “What? What makes you say that?” Matt found himself wishing he had popcorn.

Keith was looking down at the floor. “You never… I mean… I thought it was pretty obvious…” He trailed off. “Anyway, you like Matt so it doesn’t even matter, forget I said anything.” 

His face was bright red. So was Shiro’s. Matt  _ really  _ wished he had that popcorn. “Keith, I…” Shiro started, turning and looking to Matt for guidance. The only guidance he received was an emphatic flailing of arms. He walked over to where Keith was hanging his head and gently lifted his chin. “I don’t like Matt, not like that, I mean.” 

Keith’s impossibly large eyes somehow grew even bigger as he stared up at Shiro. “Then who…?” 

Matt wanted to bash his head into the nearest wall. Shiro smiled shyly down at him. “Uh… you.” His bright red cheeks looked almost molten. 

They stared at each other for a moment. And then another. Matt looked at his watch. “Guys, not to put a timetable on true love here, but we’re gonna miss dinner.” 

Shiro turned to him with murder in his eyes. “We’ll meet you there.” 

They did not. 

  
  


END 


End file.
